Cold Puts Heat On Homeless Shelters

As temperatures in the Chicago area dropped to the coldest of the season Tuesday, anxieties rose at an Aurora shelter for the homeless.

Workers at the western suburb`s 100-bed Hesed House feared they would have to turn away people for the first time this season.

``It`s a very sobering time, knowing the weather can be deadly,`` said Diane Nilan, director of the Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS) program in Aurora. Already, several people in the Chicago area have died of exposure this season, homeless advocates say.

Nilan`s shelter, at 659 S. River St., was full Monday night. Even with workers trying to squeeze more of their 3-inch-thick sleeping pads along the floors, she said, space was short.

Across the Chicago area, homeless advocates said Tuesday, more people were seeking emergency shelter as temperatures dipped.

Late Tuesday night, the official Chicago temperature fell to 16 degrees, the lowest of the season, according to Mark Rhein, a meteorologist with the Central Weather Service. Temperatures were expected to fall lower Tuesday night. The previous low for the season was 22 on Nov. 8.

Tuesday`s high was only 27, 12 degrees below the norm. But the weather was expected to be unseasonably warm later in the week, Rhein said.

Cold weather has been later in arriving this year. October and November were unseasonably warm, Rhein said. That delayed the scramble for warmth among those homeless who otherwise live outside or in vacant buildings.

Nevertheless, 10 people have died of exposure in Cook County since Oct. 1, according to a spokesman for the county medical examiner`s office. Homeless advocates estimate at least half of those people were homeless.

More than 1,000 extra beds-at warming centers in church basements and elsewhere-have been made available in Chicago in anticipation of the winter demand, according to Daniel Alvarez, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Human Services.

A city hot line, 1-800-654-8595, provides information on shelters and free transportation to them, Alvarez said.